Dear ABC CBS, FOX, NBC and the CW,
Yesterday, the NY Times Media Decoder Blog revealed that “the four major broadcast network are performing abysmally across the board in viewers between the ages of 18 and 49, posting the lowest combined ratings in that category ever for the four networks.”
Translation: Audience levels for network summer fare are sinking faster than this TV Addict’s confidence in HEROES since Bryan Fuller’s surprise announcement on Monday.
Which naturally begs the slightly awkward albeit painfully obvious question: If television is habitual (see: the continued success of CBS’ entire roster of aging procedurals) why are you spending all summer long doing your best to inexplicably break said habit courtesy of a painfully uninteresting mix of reruns (ie: last night’s sked which included repeats of THE MENTALIST, HOUSE, NCIS and 48 HOURS) and reality TV (ie: I’M A CELEBRITY… GET ME OUT OF HERE, THE SUPERSTARS and AMERICA’S GOT TALENT)?
Wake up and smell the ratings.
Nobody is watching Network this summer. Which means come Fall, you’re all going to have to work that much harder to win back the millions of viewers you’ve lost to cable, the internet and the multitude of other digital distractions over the course of June, July and August. Which is a shame, because if cable has taught us anything, it’s that all it would have taken were a few good men (namely, Jeffrey Donovan and Mark Feuerstein) to attract some viewers. Viewers that would more than likely have been helpful in terms of promoting your new crop of shows during the pivotal summer months leading up to your always risky, not to mention increasingly expensive fall launch.
We’re just sayin’ — something to think about for next season perhaps. Throwing loyal viewers one show, maybe two, to keep fans from fleeing. Just think about it will you — TNT and USA certainly did.
And FYI: We’re fairly confident that any medium that helped to extend “Speidi’s” fifteen minutes of fame automatically becomes ineligible for any form of government bailout. Or at least they should.
Sincerely,
Your #1 Fan,
The TV Addict 
